For 20 years Liverpool social enterprise dot-art has championed artists and pushed its ‘art for everyone’ message, making art accessible to all sections of the community. Tony McDonough reports
Since dot-art’s launch in 2006, founder Lucy Byrne has established a thriving gallery in Liverpool city centre, reached out to schools across Liverpool city region and put the work of local artists on the walls of numerous businesses and organisations.
To mark an impressive 20 years’ in business, Lucy is planning a series of events and exhibitions throughout 2026 to celebrate dot-art’s achievements, reflect on its cultural impact over the past two decades and showcase how, with funding for arts being constantly squeezed, its work is now as important as ever.
“I am incredibly proud and thankful to see dot-art reach this landmark anniversary,” she said. “After two decades of nurturing creative talent, building confidence, and developing the local art market, dot-art remains committed to its founding belief – art is for everyone.”
February has seen the unveiling of a specially curated events programme that will launch two new exhibitions.
Taking place at Liverpool’s INNSiDE Hotel, TWENTY will showcase large-scale work by 20 dot-art member artists, while the dot-art gallery in Queen Avenue has hosted 20×20, focusing on smaller, more affordable works.
Central to dot-art’s work is selling locally sourced, affordable art, working with businesses to put art in the workplace and public realm, running art classes and working with schools and community groups.
All this is underpinned by its membership scheme for artists in the North West, which gives access to all the activities above and a package of support and advice, creating and developing artists’ careers. Over the past 20 years dot-art’s achievements include:
- 600 artists given long term support.
- 21,000 school children engaged.
- £5m in social value for school children.
- 30,000 hours of creative teaching delivered.
- 68,000 visitors to Liverpool Art Fair.
- 2,300 artists shown at Liverpool Art Fair.
- 100 public and corporate art projects.
- 122 exhibitions of local artist’s work.
- 54 studio spaces provided.
- 750 works of art rented to businesses.
- 16 regional and national awards won.
In the past 20 years the small dot-art team has delivered countless successes. They were the first in the city to deliver regular art classes for working people at evenings and weekends, which ran for 14 years.
They also introduced an art rental service to the city’s businesses, which operates successfully to this day. Shorter term projects include the dot-art Dark Room and the Liverpool Plinth, which gained international notoriety.
Liverpool Art Fair was started back in 2012 to give artists across the region a selling platform, and has gone from strength to strength since moving to the Royal Liver Building in 2023.
More recent highlights include the twelve Flower Streets murals, which transformed a neighbourhood in Kirkdale and won awards along the way, and the launch of Art Bytes, a national inter-school art programme.
Since COVID dot-art has grown its headcount year on year to become a team of six, located in Liverpool, Kent and Hartlepool. Lucy added: “I am proud of the hard work and shared passion that has allowed us to build a fantastic, supportive team.”
Another highlight of this year’s celebrations is the launch of the dot-art Prize Draw, which will offer the chance to win original artwork worth more than £1,000 while raising money for its work with schools.
Every quarter, the draw will feature a new painting from a dot-art artist that people have a chance of winning for just £5 per entry. You’ll be supporting both dot-art’s community of brilliant visual artists, and Art Bytes. It is open until March 15. Click here for more details.
Lucy also said: “I am beyond proud and thankful to see dot-art reach this landmark anniversary. Reflecting on the past 20 years, I feel so privileged to have been able to build an organisation that I am passionate about that enriches people’s lives in many ways.
“Our work with schools will always be the thing I’m most proud of. We’ve engaged more than 21,000 young people with creativity and changed lives forever.
READ MORE: Movie post-production venture Dragon secures six-figure investment
READ MORE: BID urges Government to ‘slow down’ on tourist tax
“Art brings people together, and none of this would have been possible without my fantastic team, past and present, and the many wonderful partners we collaborate with.
“This could only have been possible in Liverpool where creativity and culture is part of our DNA. Imagine what we can achieve in the next 20 years.”